Program: GN-2010A-Q-7

Title:Investigating gamma-ray bursts and their use as cosmological probes
PI:Nial Tanvir
Co-I(s): Andrew Levan, Andrew Fruchter, Klaas Wiersema, Evert Rol, John Graham, Daniel Reichart, David Bersier, Pall Jakobsson, Paul O'Brien, James Rhoads, Jens Hjorth

Abstract

Rapid observations of gamma-ray bursts are critical to probing their exotic physics and using GRBs themselves as probes of the universe. Our collaboration has recently found the most distant known object, GRB 090423 at z=8.23, and continues to use Gemini (supported by other facilities) to study distant and extreme bursts, and explore the diversity of their hosts and progenitors. Our primary goals remain (i) to observe GRBs at very high redshifts, where they provide luminous backlights with which to explore the early ISM/IGM, and also the means to identify and characterise their faint hosts, (ii) to construct a more complete redshift sample of GRBs and constrain the evolution of the mass-metallicity relation, (iii) to detect afterglows and measure redshifts for the class of short-duration bursts, whose nature, despite recent breakthroughs, remains enigmatic, (iv) in conjunction with X-ray and gamma-ray data, to test the standard jetted, relativistic fireball models.

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